Reading Room

September 26 is the United Nations’ “International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons”

This occurs as world leaders gather in New York for the opening session of the UN General Assembly. Elimination of nuclear arsenals has been a major goal of the UN since its inception.

Tri-Valley CAREs will host a “Letter to the Editor” (LTE) writing party on this topic at its offices on September 3rd at 5:30 PM. We will conduct a short “how to” briefing for novice LTE writers and offer informational handouts about this UN Day to get you started. Call 925-443-7148 or email marylia@trivalleycares.org for details. Join us!

Our colleagues at Unfold Zero, which is a platform for UN-focused initiatives for a nuclear weapons free world, are also calling for actions to highlight disarmament. They suggest:

1. Organizing a movie screening of the award-winning film, “The Man Who Saved the World” featuring Stanislav Petrov (the man himself), Kevin Costner, Sergey Shnrynov, Matt Damon, Natalia Vdovina & Robert de Niro. For more information on the man, the incident, and the film, see ‘The Man Who Saved the World’ International Screening Week Sep 21-26, 2015 or contact info@baselpeaceoffice.org.

2. Engage your mayor, parliamentarian or religious leader to speak out. Encourage your local mayor, parliamentarian and/or religious leader to endorse the Joint Statement of Legislators and Religious Leaders for a Nuclear Weapon Free World. Mayors for Peace, Religions for Peace and Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament will present the statement to the United Nations on September 26 to support UN actions for a nuclear-weapon-free world.

3. Join a social media action, titled, ‘Don’t nuke what I/we love’! Take a photo of yourself (perhaps with friends or family) next to something or some place you love and don’t want nuked. It could be your cat, an historic building, your favorite sports team, a concert hall, a beautiful place in nature… Include a sign 'Don't nuke [your favorite thing/place]' in your photo. Post your photo on social media with #Sep26dontNukeUs.